Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bonfire

A bonfire is a fire that is
Burned for a purpose planned ahead,
Mostly celebrating biz,
Or maybe burning trash instead.
All in all, the purpose is good,
And "bon" in French means good and so
A person reasonably could
Make the connection, doncha know!
But more likely "bon" does come from
An old Celtic wording for bone.
The Celts would set big fires and some
Burned bones for a good spirit tone.

So throw a bone into a fire
To ward off spirits filled with ire.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Hear the Call - LP Zoo

I hear the keepers calling me,
They call, "Kamali - where are you?"
I be right here where I do be,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
This lioness oft hears such call,
The keepers seeking to keep track
Of us big cats, each one and all.
There's lots of roaming forth and back.
Most of the time such call is that
Keepers want me to go inside,
The behind the scenes habitat,
Whether that happens I decide.

I always go cuz it's well known
That once inside I'll get a bone.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Excrement Extraordinaire

The cute marsupial wombat
Has a distinction quite unique,
Only animal with cube scat -
The how and why researchers seek.
Innards of some wombat roadkill
Were found to have ravine like grooves,
Causing shaped corners to instill,
As through the gut the feces moves.
And related is climate dry
Where wombats in the wild do be.
The dryer scat, one reason why
Sharp angles could shaped rigidly.

Cubes in nature are very rare.
Wombats do poop in cubes to share.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Mickey Mouse Turns 90

In the year 1928
Walt Disney made a thought come real,
And Mickey Mouse, Walt did create.
Since, Mickey has been a big deal.
A real live office mouse was how
Walt thought up the Mickey Mouse thing,
Starting with some circles and wow -
Becoming world wide appealing.
It took a few cartoons before
Mickey Mouse did really gain fame.
With the audience he did score
When in cartoons his talking came.

And who was Mickey Mouse's voice?
Walt Disney of course was the choice.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Wildfire Fighter

The wildfire spreads fast with the wind.
I am a firefighter and so
I fight with others to defend
The neighborhood that I do know.
So many lives and property
Be in the path of fiery threat,
Depending on warriors like me
To make some better from worst yet.
So many days and nights I fight
The fire that keeps on burning strong.
So far there is no end in sight.
The battle is so hard and long.

The fire burns on, I must fight on,
Even knowing my home is gone.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Anticipation - LP Zoo

November in Chicago, so
Time for us snow monkeys to do
Serious pondering of snow
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
We are the only monkeys that
Live in snow when snow is around.
We sense in our habitat
That snow will soon fall to the ground.
And for a few days we will be
Out and about in the white stuff.
And so we wait quite anxiously,
The snow cannot come soon enough.

Come visit us when all is white,
And share with us in snow delight.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

More Puerto Rican Parrots Please - LP Zoo

The Puerto Rican parrot plight
Back in 1975,
An extinction was within sight,
Only 13 were left alive.
A captive breeding program since
Has helped to bring this parrot back,
Hundreds of them in consequence,
Successful saving is on track.
And with government agencies,
The Lincoln Park Zoo has worked so
Conservation activities
Have allowed the numbers to grow.

Because of help that we do give,
More Puerto Rican parrots live.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Emily - LP Zoo

I call her Emily, I do.
This pretty human girl I eye
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
And so this penguin does wave, "Hi."
I sense connection 'twixt and 'tween
Emily and myself so strong,
An awesome bond - know what I mean!
As Emily does move along,
I hope that Emily's Zoo stay
Will be all memories of good,
And held to heart in treasured way,
No matter in what neighborhood.

A wave good bye to you from me,
Come back and visit, Emily.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Zachary -  LP Zoo

Howdy, my name is Zachary.
I stay behind the scenes I do,
With other rescued chimps like me,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
I do enjoy a good life that
Is here for my retirement years,
With indoor-outdoor habitat,
Shared with coed roomie chimp peers.
The keepers keep me entertained,
And cuz I am a charming guy,
I keep the keepers quite well trained,
Keeping goodies in good supply.

Though I am out of sight and sound,
Visit and know I am around.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Red Wolf Warning - LP Zoo

Along the street that is next to
The nearby red wolf habitat
In the urban Lincoln Park Zoo,
Emergency vehicles that
At times with blaring sirens go
By, up and down the city street.
The red wolves, he and she, do show
Their warning in a howling greet,
That such a noisy thing dare not
Trespass on territory theirs,
And needs to find another spot.
This is no time and place for shares.

Victorious the wolves be - why?
The noisy things always zoom by.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Red Pandas Bid Farewell - LP Zoo

Red pandas, we are feeling blue.
It's time that we be moving on,
Leaving from the Lincoln Park Zoo.
When you hear this, we will be gone.
The years spent here have been so good.
Four cubs we've had - an awesome yield,
Named for Chicago neighborhood,
The streets surrounding Wrigley Field.
We go together as a pair
To a home in approved shared space.
We'll let you know when we get there,
And settled into the new place.

We're sad to have to say goodbye.
But we must go, we don't ask why.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Stan Lee

Stan Lee, a Marvel to behold,
Made so many super heroes,
Turning Marvel Comics to gold,
As his famed creations arose.
Spider Man, the Fantastic Four,
Daredevil, X Men, Doctor Strange,
Black Panther, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor,
All helped by Stan Lee to each change.
Modern popular culture so
Generations o'er decades could
Escape reality and go
Into the super hero hood.

He made fantasy a big deal,
Stan Lee, a super legend real.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Work with Ambassador Siku - LP Zoo

I am Siku, ambassador,
For polar bears in arctic north,
Seeking human awareness for
Save arctic sea ice - let's go forth!
A vital saving we must do,
And working together we can,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Go for good with an arctic plan.
Use clean energy more and more,
Use the fossil fuels less and less.
Arctic sea ice we can restore,
Good for the wild polar bears - yes!

Let's work together, you and me,
Help wild polar bears better be.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Shy Guy at Times - LP Zoo

A young giraffe, I'm only two,
And still I am a growing boy.
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo
Sometimes some lone time I enjoy.
When in my habitat inside,
And human visitors come by,
Sometimes I get the urge to hide.
I guess I just am feeling shy.
And so I bend down on my knees,
Thinking that this will make me be
Shorter so that nobody sees
A now much harder to see me.

But then when I raise up my neck,
The humans wave - oh what the heck!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Oldster Youngster

A Neanderthal female child
Two hundred thousand years ago,
Now data on her is compiled,
So more about her we do know.
She lived in now southeastern France,
And was born sometime in the spring,
And raised under harsh circumstance,
And lots of stress that such does bring.
The vitamin deficiency
From insufficient food supply,
Her mother's milk apparently
Was weak and thus one reason why.

How do we know much about her?
Her fossilized teeth tell for sure.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Henkel's Leaf Tailed Geckos - LP Zoo

Henkel's leaf tailed geckos be hatched,
First time at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
The cute bundles quickly attached
Suction cup like limbs like they do.
One grabbed hold of the fingertip
Of a keeper and did hold tight.
No way was it going to slip.
Instinctively it got it right.
Their kind are from Madagascar,
Vulnerable to extinction.
So here ambassadors they are,
So conservation might be done.

These geckos, when on exhibit,
Will stick out great and be a hit.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Plowing It On - LP Zoo

Just call me Kapucki, snow plow.
This rhino does like snow, I do.
Each time I see snow, I think "wow,"
Let's plow all of Lincoln Park Zoo.
And so I lower my head and,
Using my horn, scoop through the snow.
Ah, the feeling is just so good,
As through the fluffy white I go.
Some snow my horn has missed I kick,
Sending the flakes into air bound.
And then a pile of snow I pick,
Plop into it and roll around.

Whenever snow is around me,
An awesome snow plower I be.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Listening to the Little Brown Bat - LP Zoo

Official mammal - Chicago,
The little brown bat is the choice.
The Lincoln Park Zoo wants to know
More about this bat by its voice.
And so researchers have installed
Acoustic monitors around
To record bats' high pitched sounds called,
Learning more, studying the sound.
Bat populations have declined
Because of a fungal disease,
And so researchers hope to find
More ways to help activities.

We humans share the habitat
With urban wildlife like the bat.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

U.S. Citizenship At First

The U.S. founding fathers chose
Not to spell out citizenship,
But settled common law arose.
Birth by "right of the soil" took grip.
If one was born on U.S land,
Then U.S citizen would be,
An easy thing to understand
Without too much complexity.
Of course both men and women could
Become a U.S. citizen.
The founding fathers found this good
For a new nation to begin.

But to be a citizen right,
One had to be a human white.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Pro Swamp

The term "swamp" has turned negative
As an undesirable place.
Many plants and animals live
In swamps and all can prove the case
That wildly productive they be,
Many endangered species there,
Able to thrive and to live free,
Helping clean the water and air,
Removing pollution before
Bigger problems would come about.
The flora and fauna galore
Make the swamp a good thing, no doubt.

A time and place that gets much pomp,
The Garden of Eden - a swamp!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Cooper Hawk - LP Zoo

Walk the Nature Boardwalk and do
Sight some urban wildlife that be
Stopping by the Lincoln Park Zoo
As a chosen activity.
A cooper hawk, while flying by,
Decided to come down to ground
From lofty heights up in the sky
To perch a while and look around.
A berried tree in hues of fall,
Upon a limb the hawk did choose
To sense the time and place of all,
To seize a brief moment to muse.

For soon enough the hawk will go
Onward and upward in life's flow.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

To the Point - My Ears - LP Zoo

Eurasian lynx, big cat I be
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Watching the visitors watch me,
I do some showing off, I do.
I know I am an awesome sight,
Black markings on my tawny fur,
And large webbed paws that do me right
In snow and on ice, footed sure.
But standing out most are my ears.
Upon the tip tops of each grow
Tufts of dark hair woven like spears.
So many comments, doncha know.

I've even heard some humans talk
Of me looking like Mr. Spock.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Critterlandia

Critterlandia - a review.
Animals - the book is about,
And some of wondrous stuff some do.
This book is full of fun, no doubt!
Forty four critters tell a tale
In whimsical reason and rhyme,
Then with some by the way detail,
Well worth the reader's reading time.
And illustrations illustrate
The critter and the tale that's told.
Each animal does animate,
Letting each adventure unfold.

Yes, this reviewer does suggest
Critterlandia is the best!

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Goodbye Bex - LP Zoo

The Lion House on the southeast
Corner in the Lincoln Park Zoo,
Bex the puma was there at least
Most of her life, the home she knew.
But the Lion House needs to be
Modernized  in a better way.
Animal residents, sadly,
Must relocate till future day.
Bex's ride was waiting for her,
But the humans just had to wait.
Bex was in no hurry for sure.
She did not care if she was late.

She stayed upon her rock ledge high
Watching her world to say good bye.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Kang-kick-aroo - LP Zoo

Come and kick with a kangaroo,
Kick in the sense of hanging out.
Time and place - the Lincoln Park Zoo,
Get a kick out of it, no doubt.
And where the kangaroo be at?
Takin and camel, 'twixt and 'tween
Be the roos in their habitat,
Making the awesome roosome scene.
The kangaroos do like to see
All of the humans coming by.
A mutual kick it does be
For roos and peeps to share a "hi."

For sure the kangaroos await
Your coming for a fun kick date.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Tall Order for Finely - LP Zoo

"Pick up for Finely," I do hear,
And that means ready be my lunch.
Ah yes, my salad does appear,
And I of course begin to munch.
Keepers keep me well fed, they do.
I get the nutrients I need
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
My salad is tasty indeed.
The salad is set out on high,
On a cliff ledge that's nice and flat,
Cuz I am a tall order guy
When I eat in my habitat.

Wherever food is, what the heck,
I will stretch forth my giraffe neck.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Lioness all Ears - LP Zoo

This lioness does love to hear
The music from a violin.
So when some young humans played near,
I took each and ev'ry note in.
These youth did play so very well.
Making music is such a gift,
Grateful upon my ears it fell,
Giving me such a feel good lift.
From time to time musicians do
Come and give a concert for free
Here on grounds at Lincoln Park Zoo.
The sound of music pleases me.

Of course I wanted an encore.
I made this want known with a roar.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Trick to Beat - LP Zoo

A Jack O lantern's found its way
Into my habitat to make
A Happy Halloween display
In the home of this rattlesnake.
The keepers keep it fun, they do,
Getting me in the spirit for
Holidays at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Tiz ssssimply so much fun galore.
Of course I like to coil inside
The Jack O lantern to be there
When visitors close by astride.
I then pop out - what a cool scare!

So when a Jack O lantern's near,
Check for rattles that you might hear.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Madame LaLaurie

Madame LaLaurie, southern belle,
In her New Orleans mansion threw
Great lavish parties known so well,
An 1830's do to do.
But one night when a fire broke out,
The locals found a horror scene,
Tortured and murdered slaves, no doubt
Proving the Madame as mad mean.
The Madame disappeared that night.
Her whereabouts were never known.
Her mansion still remains a fright
For passersby walking alone.

From the mansion sometimes there seems
To come the sounds of phantom screams.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Hateful Son

My grown son still does live with me.
He has the basement to himself.
I worry what he's come to be,
Hate on his mind, guns on his shelf.
He does not talk to me too much,
But seems excited when there is
More church and school shootings and such.
I ask, he says mind my own biz.
Each time he leaves the house I do
Feel a sense of relief he's gone,
But then I feel a real fear too
Of what he might have going on.

I know he holds hate and a gun.
What can I do? He is my son.